Heart of the Matter

Summary: Part of my 'Lessons' series. Tag to Heartland. Warning: discussion of corporal punishment of children; disciplinary spanking of an adult.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just play with them.


Warning: This is part of my 'Lessons' series and builds on a larger plot arc. This story contains discussion of the corporal punishment of children and the disciplinary spanking of an adult. If you have a problem with that, click on that 'back' button now. You've been warned!


Gibbs smiled fondly as he watched Tony make his way slowly around the store, clearly using his investigative skills to catalogue every detail. The tins of soup, the boxes of matches, the bottles of dish soap – everything was noted and filed away in Tony's remarkable memory. It wasn't until the younger man reached the well-scrubbed counter and the neat rows of candy that lined it that he stopped and stared.

Gibbs knew he wasn't staring at the candy.

Rather, it was the solid-looking wooden paddle mounted on the front of the counter, centred among the displayed sweets, that had caught his attention.

'Uh... Boss? What...'

It was Jack who answered, looking up from his crossword puzzle.

'I find that's a much more effective deterrent against shoplifting than threatening to call that useless Sherriff. Not too many kids around here think it's worth it to swipe a candy bar when they know I'm going to take that paddle to their backsides for it.'

Tony's eyes grew wide as he processed the information.

'But...'

'It's a small town, Tony,' Gibbs explained, remembering all too well how much use that paddle had received during his childhood. 'Things are different out here.'

Tony still looked sceptical, clearly not really believing that there were still parents who would be ok with the guy who ran the store spanking their kids. Gibbs didn't elaborate.

And he certainly didn't comment on the fact that the kids didn't always share their parents' views that they deserved what Jack handed out. That damned paddle explained most of the fights that he'd been in, growing up. More than a few of the boys at school had tried to express their unhappiness about a sore ass by knocking him on his. He'd learned to defend himself long before he joined the Corps. In fact, he suddenly realised, he probably owed some of his success as a Marine to that paddle.